JINSA Roundup: 3
1. JINSA is pleased to announce that Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes Magazine, will be the keynote speaker at our Houston Dinner, Wednesday 5 March. The dinner will honor Randall Onstead of Randalls Supermarkets.
1. JINSA is pleased to announce that Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes Magazine, will be the keynote speaker at our Houston Dinner, Wednesday 5 March. The dinner will honor Randall Onstead of Randalls Supermarkets.
2. A select group of JINSA leaders in New York heard Dr. David Kay, a vice president of Science Applications International Corp. and leading expert on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, describe the strategic threat Israel faces. With its enemies acquiring large arsenals of ballistic missiles, Israel has little margin of security. Dr. Kay, formerly the head of the U.N. Nuclear Weapons Inspections Team in Iraq, noted that European suppliers and trading partners of rogue states hold attitudes that are dangerous for Israel and the U.S. France believes that the intentions and capabilities of Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria in the area of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles are never as bad as the U.S. claims them to be. The French can afford this attitude, according to Dr. Kay, because they believe the United States will take care of whatever problem eventually arises.
3. Dr. Marvin Feuer, Director of National Security Programs at AIPAC, discussed Israel’s legislative priorities in the area of defense policy with a group of industry representatives and retired military officers at a meeting convened by JINSA on 4 February. Charles Perkins and Jordan Frankel of AIPAC also participated in the briefing. Pointing to a substantial amount of joint U.S.-Israel research and development as well as joint political and military planning, Dr. Feuer noted that the benefits of important contributions to ballistic missile defense research, improvements in tank armor, unmanned vehicles and missile technology. Israel’s shorter lead time between the engineering stage and the acquisition of weapons by the military enhances Israel’s value to the U.S. military. The declining U.S. defense budget could give rise to protectionism in the American market, however, he stressed that Israeli companies are entering into strategic partnerships with American companies to help mitigate the losses. A favorably disposed Congress, he added, will give Israel little difficult in acquiring the weapons systems it needs for the IDF.
4. Benjamin Gettler, Chairman of JINSA, co-chaired a briefing by JINSA and the Middle East International Affairs Task Force of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Cincinnati. The guest speaker was Judge Amnon Straschnov, the jurist who presided at the Rabin assassination trial. Judge Straschnov has presided over the Military Court in Judea and Samaria, and served as IDF Chief Prosecutor during the Intifada.